Leviticus 20:18
New International Version
“’If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.

New Living Translation
“If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them must be cut off from the community, for together they have exposed the source of her blood flow.

English Standard Version
If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Berean Standard Bible
If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

King James Bible
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

New King James Version
If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.

New American Standard Bible
If there is a man who sleeps with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; so both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

NASB 1995
If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

NASB 1977
‘If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Legacy Standard Bible
If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Amplified Bible
If a man lies [intimately] with a woman during her menstrual cycle and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them].

Christian Standard Bible
If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from their people.

American Standard Version
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Contemporary English Version
If you have sex with a woman during her monthly period, both you and the woman will be cut off from the people of Israel.

English Revised Version
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman while she has her monthly period, both of them have had sexual intercourse in blood. They must be excluded from the people.

Good News Translation
If a man has intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, both of them are to be driven out of the community, because they have broken the regulations about ritual uncleanness.

International Standard Version
"If a man has sexual relations with a menstruating woman, he has exposed her nakedness, laying bare her fountain. He has exposed the source of her blood. Both are to be eliminated from contact with their people.

Majority Standard Bible
If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

NET Bible
If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them must be cut off from the midst of their people.

New Heart English Bible
"'If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

World English Bible
“‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made her fountain naked, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And a man who lies with a sick woman and has uncovered her nakedness, her fountain he has made bare, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood—even both of them have been cut off from the midst of their people.

Young's Literal Translation
'And a man who lieth with a sick woman, and hath uncovered her nakedness, her fountain he hath made bare, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood, -- even both of them have been cut off from the midst of their people.

Smith's Literal Translation
And a man who shall lie with a woman being sick, and uncovered her nakedness; he made naked her fountain, and she uncovered the fountain of her blood: and they two were cut off from the midst of their people.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
If any man lie with a woman in her flowers, and uncover her nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood, both shall be destroyed out of the midst of their people.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Whoever has sexual intercourse with a woman in her menstrual flow, and has uncovered her nakedness, and she has opened the fountain of her blood, both shall be destroyed from the midst of their people.

New American Bible
If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and has intercourse with her, he has laid bare the source of her flow and she has uncovered it. The two of them shall be cut off from the people.

New Revised Standard Version
If a man lies with a woman having her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow and she has laid bare her flow of blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her menstruation and shall be intimate with her, he has uncovered her fountain and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And a man who will have sexual intercourse with a menstruous woman and will uncover her nakedness, uncovers her fountain and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood; they shall both be deprived from within their people.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness--he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood--both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And whatever man shall lie with a woman that is set apart for a flux, and shall uncover her nakedness, he has uncovered her fountain, and she has uncovered the flux of her blood: they shall both be destroyed from among their generation.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Punishments for Sexual Immorality
17If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity. 18If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people. 19You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.…

Cross References
Leviticus 15:19-24
When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. / Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean, / and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ...

Leviticus 18:19
You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period.

Ezekiel 18:6
He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her period.

Ezekiel 22:10
In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.

Deuteronomy 27:20
‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

2 Samuel 11:4
Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.

2 Samuel 13:11-14
And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come lie with me, my sister!” / “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not violate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! / Where could I ever take my shame? And you would be like one of the fools in Israel! Please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” ...

1 Corinthians 5:1
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

1 Corinthians 7:1-2
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations. / But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

Galatians 5:19
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;

Ephesians 5:3
But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.

Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; / each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, / not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;


Treasury of Scripture

And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he has discovered her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

having

Leviticus 15:24
And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

Leviticus 18:19
Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

Ezekiel 18:6
And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,

discovered [heb] made naked

Jump to Previous
Bare Blood Cut Discovered Exposed Flow Flux Fountain Infirmity Lies Menstruous Monthly Naked Nakedness Period Relations Sex Sexual Sickness Source Time Uncover Uncovered Uncovers Unwell
Jump to Next
Bare Blood Cut Discovered Exposed Flow Flux Fountain Infirmity Lies Menstruous Monthly Naked Nakedness Period Relations Sex Sexual Sickness Source Time Uncover Uncovered Uncovers Unwell
Leviticus 20
1. Of him who gives his seed to Moloch
4. Of him who favors such an one
6. Of going to wizards
7. Of sanctification
9. Of him who curses his parents
11. Of incest
13. Of sodomy
15. Of bestiality
18. Of uncleanness
22. Obedience is required with holiness
27. Wizards must be put to death














If a man lies
The phrase "lies" in Hebrew is "שָׁכַב" (shakab), which often implies a sexual connotation. In the context of Leviticus, it is used to describe illicit or prohibited sexual relations. This word sets the stage for understanding the gravity of the act being described, as it is not merely about physical rest but an intimate act that breaches divine law.

with a menstruating woman
The Hebrew term for "menstruating woman" is "נִדָּה" (niddah), which refers to a woman during her menstrual period. In ancient Israelite culture, menstruation was considered a time of ritual impurity, not as a moral failing but as a natural state that required separation for the sake of holiness and community purity. This separation underscores the importance of maintaining ritual cleanliness as prescribed by the Mosaic Law.

and has sexual relations with her
This phrase emphasizes the act of sexual intercourse, which in this context is forbidden due to the woman's state of niddah. The act is seen as a violation of the sacred boundaries set by God for His people. It highlights the seriousness with which God views the observance of His laws regarding purity and the sanctity of the human body.

he has exposed the source of her flow
The "source of her flow" refers to the menstrual blood, which in Levitical law is a source of ritual impurity. The Hebrew word for "source" is "מָקוֹר" (maqor), meaning a fountain or spring, symbolizing the origin of life and fertility. By exposing it, the man disregards the sanctity and the natural order established by God, thus defiling both himself and the woman.

and she has uncovered the source of her blood
The act of uncovering, "גָּלָה" (galah) in Hebrew, implies a revealing or making known something that should remain hidden. In this context, it signifies a mutual responsibility in the act, as both parties are complicit in violating the divine command. The "source of her blood" reiterates the focus on the menstrual cycle as a time of impurity, which should be respected and observed according to God's law.

Both of them must be cut off from among their people
The phrase "cut off" is translated from the Hebrew "כָּרַת" (karat), which can mean to sever or to excommunicate. This severe consequence reflects the seriousness of the transgression. In the ancient Israelite community, being "cut off" could mean death or banishment, emphasizing the need for communal purity and the removal of sin from among God's people. This underscores the holiness required by God and the communal responsibility to uphold His statutes.

(18) Having her sickness.--See Leviticus 15:24; Leviticus 18:19.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
If a man
וְ֠אִישׁ (wə·’îš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

lies
יִשְׁכַּ֨ב (yiš·kaḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7901: To lie down

with
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Preposition
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

a menstruating
דָּוָ֗ה (dā·wāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 1739: Faint, unwell

woman
אִשָּׁ֜ה (’iš·šāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

and has sexual relations with
וְגִלָּ֤ה (wə·ḡil·lāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1540: To denude, to exile, to reveal

her,
עֶרְוָתָהּ֙ (‘er·wā·ṯāh)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 6172: Nakedness

he has exposed
הֶֽעֱרָ֔ה (he·‘ĕ·rāh)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6168: To be, bare, to empty, pour out, demolish

the source of her flow,
מְקֹרָ֣הּ (mə·qō·rāh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4726: Something dug, a, source, of happiness, wisdom, progeny)

and she
וְהִ֕יא (wə·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

has uncovered
גִּלְּתָ֖ה (gil·lə·ṯāh)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1540: To denude, to exile, to reveal

the source
מְק֣וֹר (mə·qō·wr)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4726: Something dug, a, source, of happiness, wisdom, progeny)

of her blood.
דָּמֶ֑יהָ (dā·me·hā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1818: Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed

Both
שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם (šə·nê·hem)
Number - mdc | third person masculine plural
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

of them must be cut off
וְנִכְרְת֥וּ (wə·niḵ·rə·ṯū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

from
מִקֶּ֥רֶב (miq·qe·reḇ)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7130: The nearest part, the center

their people.
עַמָּֽם׃ (‘am·mām)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock


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OT Law: Leviticus 20:18 If a man lies with a woman (Le Lv Lev.)
Leviticus 20:17
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